Thursday, October 29, 2015

Haunted mangrove tunnel a scream
USA - Despite being scared by the masked divers popping out at her, Ramallo enjoyed the experience. “It was a very fun tour,” she said. “It is really different. It is like a whole new experience. It is kind of cool.” Ramallo said it was fun sharing the experience with others on the tour. “In a haunted house you are kind of on your own,” she explained. “Here you get to meet new people.” Ramallo, a student at Florida Gulf Coast University, was driving down U.S. 41 when she saw the sign for the haunted kayak tours. That’s when she decided to give it a try. She had only kayaked once before, but said the trip is easy, even for beginners. “I saw the sign and thought it would be a lot of fun,” Ramallo said. “I wanted to do something in the spirit of the season. I wanted to do something different.” The tour has a haunted theme in which the guides lead guests through a spooky story. “The whole thing is diver related so the idea behind it is we have lost souls of divers that get lost in the mangroves,” Jett said. “We have divers set in the waterways and in the mangroves that scare them.” This is the first year Naples Marina and Excursions is doing the haunted tour. READ MORE

AFRICA

New Energy Saving Stove to Protect Environment
RWANDA - During the just concluded Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) expo at Gikondo in Kigali, many visitors crammed around one stand marvelling at 'magical' stoves. These were not ordinary stoves as they are powered by only one piece of charcoal, hydrogen, and are connected to electricity or four radio batteries using a phone charger. "Considering daily feeding needs of a family, school fees, rent and other expenses, the high price of charcoal is very frustrating. Currently a bag of charcoal in Kigali costs over Rwf8,000. That is why I bought this stove that uses one piece of charcoal; it is really amazing," said Samuel Nyirimanzi, a father of five children residing in Kicukiro District. The stove, which costs Rwf15,000, can last for at least three years, according to the exhibitors. Fahadi Imanzi, the manufacturer of the stoves, said the "Rengera Modern Cooker Stove" uses only one unit of electricity per month (costing Rwf300) and one piece of charcoal per cooking. READ MORE

ASIA

To Cool Off, This Mangrove Fish Leaves the Water
USA - The mangrove rivulus, a drab, elusive fish found from Florida to Brazil, has been observed flipping out of hot water and onto solid ground. In half a minute or less, its body temperature falls to match its new surroundings. This is the first time a fish has been shown to air-chill itself, scientists reported in the journal Biology Letters. And it must come in handy, since the rivulus’s home waters have been reported to reach a sweltering 100°F (38°C). These fish always have this escape route,” says study co-author Patricia Wright of the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. “If the water starts to warm up, off they go.” A number of amphibious fish have the ability to catapult onto dry land, but the rivulus lives in the tropics and subtropics, where humidity is high and water and air temperatures are roughly the same. Researchers wondered why an overheated fish would jump from warm water to warm, humid air. READ MORE

The long struggle of an activist
THAILAND - Banjong Nasae wakes up every morning with lawsuits and death threats in the back of his mind and an image of himself with wrinkles and a receding hairline. But his spirit as a marine activist remains young and robust. “I don’t care if it’s multinational companies or large conglomerates. If their business or projects hurt the little people living along the southern coastal areas and deplete their marine resources, I have to get involved,” Mr Banjong declares. He is a Facebook personality whose views on the protection of marine resources and critiques of related policies are shared widely. The activist was honoured for his campaigns to preserve the sea and fishermen’s livelihoods with the Santiprachadham prize in August. The award was an exceptional one for Mr Banjong, a gung ho advocate known for his straightforward, even blunt, approach to getting his campaign message across. READ MORE

Activists urge government to scrap energy plan
THAILAND - The government's Power Development Plan 2015 (PDP 2015) stands to affect people unfairly, critics say. A group of 25 activists and local people from around the country demanded that the government revoke it and start again. It wants Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and the Energy Ministry to come up with a new plan based on public participation and transparency. They also urged the government to give priority to renewable energy. The PDP 2015 limits renewable energy capacity to 20% of overall supply. They said there should be no limit on renewable energy capacity. The group, consisting of locals and representatives from 18 networks affected by proposals under the plan to develop coal-fired power plants and the Salween and Mekong dams, handed a complaint letter to the ministry. The plan exaggerates the extent of future power demand and makes allowance for excessive power reserves, they said. More power plants and dams would have to be built than are necessary according to more conservative estimates. READ MORE

How shrimp farming wreaked havoc on Sri Lanka’s coasts
SRI LANKA – A swelling appetite for shrimps and prawns in America, Europe and Japan has fuelled industrial farming of shellfish in the past few decades. The industry now has a farm-gate value of $10bn (£6.4bn) per year globally and the prawn in your sandwich is much more likely to have come from a pond than from the sea. While the industry is dominated by the likes of China, Vietnam and Thailand, a large number of other countries have invested heavily in cultivation too. One is Sri Lanka, which saw the industry as a passport to strong economic growth and widespread employment. Just outside the world’s top ten producers, it accounts for approximately 50% of the total export earnings from Sri Lankan fisheries. More than 90% of the harvested cultured prawns are exported, going mostly to Japan. Yet the picture is decidedly mixed on a closer inspection. The country saw an explosion of unregulated aquaculture on the island in the 1980s and 1990s, bringing riches to a few and the hope of riches or at least an income to many more. But poor coastal management also brought white spot syndrome virus, a virulent disease that spreads in water and on the feet of birds, and can kill all the prawns in a pond in under a week. READ MORE

Mangrove afforestation to protect fragile shoreline
BANGLADESH - Mangrove plantation is under way on the banks of Raimangal and Kalindi rivers spread across two blocks of North 24-Parganas - Hingalganj and Sandeshkahli II - where vast areas of farm land were devastated due to high salinity after Aila hit the areas, resulting in massive livelihood loss. The plantation is on 8.64 hectares of land near the river embankment to protect the coastal zones from erosion. Mangroves will maintain coastal water quality, preserve the ecosystem and protect the coastal zones besides providing livelihood to thousands of people living along the coast, district magistrate of North 24-Parganas, Manmeet Kaur Nanda, said. Many mangrove belts along the coast are severely degraded or have completely disappeared after Aila blew over the area in 2009. The project, named Greenline, was launched three months ago under the rural employment guarantee scheme cell. READ MORE

AMERICAS

Rookery Bay, USGS team up to study dying Goodland mangroves
USA – A Goodland mangrove forest that is dying off is now at the center of a long-term research partnership between Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve and the U.S. Geological Survey. USGS awarded a grant to the research project for a minimum of three years to assess the 225-acre hydrologic restoration, partially underway, at Fruit Farm Creek, which is a mangrove forest site within Rookery Bay Reserve near Goodland. Construction of State Road 92, which began in 1938, altered natural tidal flushing to mangrove wetlands in the area, causing the die-off over decades. The mangroves were left in a drowning state as a change in water flow from building the road allowed water to get into the area, but no longer was flushing out at a rate that allowed the mangroves to breathe, researchers said. Stormwater runoff and other factors exacerbated the problem, not allowing the roots of the black mangroves to shoot out of the water to get oxygen. READ MORE

The mystery of South Florida’s runaway mangroves
USA - Behind the manicured hedges of Coconut Grove and Coral Gables, a bit of a horticultural mystery has taken root, one tied to one of the most famous names in botany: David Fairchild. During the heady days of botanical gardens, when plant explorers scoured the globe in search of exotic trophies to display back home, Fairchild collected two hardy mangrove trees while traveling in Indonesia. In the 1940s, he planted the trees, radiant specimens of Bruguiera gymnorrhiza with flaming, lipstick red flowers, at his house on Douglas Road, now a little jewel of a botanical garden known as The Kampong. Thirty years later, horticulturists at the more expansive and renowned botanical garden that bears his name off Old Cutler Road planted a second Asian species, Lumnitzera racemosa. For decades, the trees flourished, showcasing the flowery beauty of exotic mangroves. But at some point, something bad happened. They escaped. It turns out that not all mangroves — coastal trees Florida wildlife managers have taken great pains to protect — are good. READ MORE

OCEANA

Australia could lose mangroves to sea level rise, research warns
AUSTRALIA – Parts of Australia could lose their coastal mangroves to sea level rise before the end of this century, according to new research. The loss of the quintessential coastal tree with built-in snorkels could have major knock-on effects for fisheries and nearby communities. "Without mangrove forests, fish decline, there's reduced coastal protection, there's reduced coastal carbon sequestration," lead researcher Catherine Lovelock, who is a professor of biological sciences at the University of Queensland, said. "Mangroves provide a whole range of ecosystem services." In Australia, there are approximately a million hectares of coastal mangrove forests. A rough estimate of the value of the services they provide to Australians has been put at $194 billion each year. Australia has the second largest area of mangroves in the world, behind Indonesia. And it is not just Australia's trees that would be affected. READ MORE

CORRECTION NOTICE
RE The OCT 17th MAP News story "Mangrove park near new airport on cards” The "view source" connection was an old (2010) IUCN connection that had nothing to do with the airport project. Lewis Environmental Services, Inc., in the USA, worked for the planning authority for a short time, but is no longer involved.

LAST WORD(S)

Hi Alfredo Quarto & Jim Enright,

I wanted to inform you that last week, we did Mangrove Rehabilitation presentations in 5 schools in Savusavu, a copra & tourist town on Vanua Levu, Fiji Islands. More specifically, we did it on Nawi Island - a private island development with Homes, a Marina and Resort.

We used a lot of materials from MAP's videos on Youtube to make our presentations super simple and easy to explain to students the benefits, threats and sustainability of Mangroves.

We started Nawi Island's Mangrove Rehabilitation program last year and about 80% of propagules planted has taken successfully. We just finished this years program inviting Year 8 students and teachers to the island along with government officials and all stake holders. The program has started even before our ground breaking ceremony to ensure sustainability is part of the developments DNA.

I am reaching out to MAP incase there is something you want to ask or relay which will make our understanding and project better. Mangroves taken out so far is being reused creatively on the island construction - from making floors and furniture to Bure (Reception House) beams. I can share more if you guys are interested.

Please cut and paste these news alerts/ action alerts on to your own lists and contacts. Help us spread the word and further generate letters of concern, as this can make a big difference in helping to halt a wrongdoing or encourage correct action.

ACTION ALERTS WANTED: MAP News is looking for links to calls to actions/petitions and letter writing campaigns on mangrove issues, tropical coastal communities and other related topics. Not all submissions can be selected, but we look forward to hearing about your work and want to let our readers' voice be heard!
Email submissions to news@mangroveactionproject.org

Action Alerts:

Rigoberto Lima Choc was a 28-year old schoolteacher and indigenous activist. He was shot outside of a courthouse just one day after a court ordered the palm oil company to suspend operations due to a huge spill of palm oil waste. Sign the petition to protect activists

MAP’s e-Cards offer you a unique way to spread the word about MAP’s good works, while sharing beautiful photographs of the mangroves

Donate to MAP via Paypal
Giving could never be easier

It’s the action, not the fruit of the action, that's important. You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there'll be any fruit. But that doesn't mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result.

Note to Our Readers:We strive to keep active links in our newsletter. However, due to circumstances beyond our control, occasionally links to stories may become broken. If you find a link to a story is not functioning, please cut and paste the headline into your browser search bar. In most cases you should be able to locate the original story.

Thursday, October 15, 2015

Mangrove forests in Indo-Pacific region may drown by 2070: Study
AUSTRALIA - Researchers in Australia have suggested that rising sea levels pose a huge drowning risk to mangrove forests in the Indo-Pacific region so much so that all forests in the region could be submerged by 2070. According to an international research carried out by scientists including those from University of Queensland, mangroves in parts of Thailand, Sumatra, Java, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands and in danger of drowning even with relatively low sea-level rises. Researchers say that while outlook for mangroves in Indo-Pacific region is grim, those in other parts of the world may not suffer the same fate. Ecologist Professor Catherine Lovelock is one of the researchers involved with the study and according to her, mangroves are likely to persist in east Africa, the Bay of Bengal, eastern Borneo and north-western Australia. Professor Lovelock, who works in UQ’s School of Biological Sciences and the Global Change Institute, added that through accretion of sediment and maintenance of wetland soils, mangrove forests do have the capacity to avoid inundation and keep pace with sea-level rise. READ MORE

AFRICA

Mangrove ‘the plant that offsets most carbon in the Arabian Peninsula’
UAE - The mangrove has been identified as the plant that offsets most carbon in the Arabian Peninsula. A report from the National Blue Carbon Project published on Monday represents the findings of a 18 month-long project to investigate the capacity for mangroves to store carbon and offset car emissions. “What makes the mangroves so special is their ability to stock carbon,” said Ahmed Al Hashmi, director of biodiversity at the Ministry of Environment and Water. “If we understand the effects on climate change in the UAE we might dedicate more efforts to finding out how much the mangroves can actually offset.” The concept of carbon stocks, although relatively new, has gained ground in international conservation efforts as a way of encouraging policymakers to declare legislation to preserve natural habitats. Conservationists and researchers use carbon stocks to discourage the destruction of these habitats, as their eradication would release carbon gases into the atmosphere. “When you’re cutting down mangrove trees, not only are you destroying environments and natural habitats, but you’re destroying carbon sinks that can mitigate the carbon dioxide that you’re emitting,” said Mariam Harib, an assistant undersecretary at the Ministry of Environment and Water. READ MORE

ASIA

Conserving Indonesia’s Mangroves Could Mitigate Climate Change
INDONESIA - As much as 42 percent of coastal carbon emissions and 3-19 percent of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions could be reduced if Indonesia's remaining mangroves are conserved, according to a study published in Nature Climate Change. Ranked fifteenth in the world by land area and fourth by population size, Indonesia has more than 17,500 islands and 95,000 km of coastline. In 1980, Indonesia had an approximate 4.2 Mha of mangrove forests but in 2005 the remaining area only measured 2.9Mha. This loss is equivalent to deforesting an area of 52,000 football field-sized mangrove forests each year. Worldwide, only 0.7 percent of all tropical forests consist of mangroves. However, carbon emissions from mangrove forests alone account for 10 percent of global tropical deforestation emissions. This enormous potential for mangroves to act as excellent carbon sinks or enormous carbon sources is the clinching point for mangrove conservation. READ MORE

Shrimp farms kept away, Indian mangroves growE.D. NOTE: In 1996 the Indian Supreme Court made its important ruling that all shrimp farms must be located outside the mangrove zone. This ruling was not always enforced, but by and large it was, and especially it was an important factor in dissuading further shrimp farm developments in the mangrove wetlands. This in turn resulted in mangrove regeneration and when existing shrimp farms were forcibly removed or simply closed down because of other issues, such as pollution or disease, these lands naturally, after time, returned to mangroves. MAP executive director Alfredo Quarto was involved in providing needed reports and studies used by the legal defense representing the conservation side in getting this Supreme Court decision in their favor.
INDIA – Rapid expansion of shrimp aquaculture is usually held responsible for the depletion of mangrove forests. Countries like Thailand, which is the largest exporter of shrimps, have lost more than 80% of mangroves. In India, too, shrimp farming has been growing exponentially but the mangrove cover in many Indian states has gone up, shows a six-year study . This is because aqua farms are away from the ecologically sensitive patches and shrimp farming is not done in mangroves. The study was carried out by scientists at Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture by comparing satellite images of mangroves from four decades with reports from field visits. Principal scientist M Jayanthi said the study was carried out to address concerns that India too may be losing its mangrove resources to shrimp aquaculture. READ MORE

New mangroves to be planted at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve
SINGAPORE - A new arboretum - collection of trees - at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve will soon house about half of the world's true mangrove species to enhance its conservation. To be planted over the next two years along a 500m stretch at the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve Coastal Trail, the arboretum will have 2,000 native mangrove trees across 35 true species, which grow only in intertidal environments. Currently, the wetland reserve has about 30 true mangrove species. The project will enable Singapore to conserve species such as the globally critically endangered Eye of the Crocodile - which has only 200 mature trees in the world. READ MORE

Gender equality integrated into Mangroves for the Future projects
INDONESIA - The involvement, contribution and role of both men and women are important to the functioning and well-being of coastal communities, but often not well understood. Poor understanding of the distinct roles and contributions of men and women often leads to lack of recognition of their distinct needs and interests in policies and programmes. This lack of recognition can result in failure to meet sustainable livelihood goals in ecosystem dependent coastal communities – the target beneficiary group of Mangroves for the Future (MFF). Mangroves for the Future (MFF) recognizes that gender equality is fundamental to conservation and sustainable development, and has established gender as a cross-cutting or strategic consideration in its programme. As part of its resilience approach to coastal management, MFF strongly focuses on gender responsive project planning. READ MORE

Mangrove park near new airport on cards
INDIA - The state forest department has shown interest in developing a mangrove park on Waghivli island, which has been earmarked for the relief and rehabilitation package for airport development. The park will be spread across 245 hectares and birds throng the region that abuts the core aeronautical area. "We are seriously considering transferring the island to the forest department as mangroves come under the forest department as we do not have the expertise of developing the island into a mangrove park," said a Cidco official said Tuesday. "One of the conditions for the green nod for the airport was to develop the land into a mangrove park," the official added. The planning authority has appointed Lewis International, a US firm, as a consultant to provide the methodology to develop the island into a mangrove park. VIEW SOURCE

AMERICAS

Honduras privatizes it's fisheries
HONDURAS - Jorge Varela Márquez, Goldman Environmental Prize 1999, denounces the new fishing law of his country, which, after year of resistance by fishing communities, surrenders it's national sovereignty to transnational cooperations ... "Worldwide, and with special intensity in the countries of the South, the "Grabbing of Land and Oceans" takes place, that is, the facilitated acquisition by the oligarchies and transnational corporations of the biodiversity that inhabit the lands, seas, lakes, ponds, rivers, wetlands of a country. This dispossession of resources violates human and cultural rights of millions of people and is facilitated by the World Bank, supported by many governments of the "First and Third World!" with the cooperation of some international organizations once pro-environment and now pro-business. This policy of plundering works against the food security of millions of people. To deprive countries of their goods attractive terms are used such as the "right to private property," "transferable fishing quotas," "secure access," "Marine Protected Areas" etc. READ MORE

BU Students Discover Corals in Unlikely Place
BELIZE – The photos evoke what a stoner must see while watching Fantasia: a kaleidoscope of vibrant-hued corals in all kinds of shapes. As striking as their colors and forms—although you wouldn’t know it by looking at the photos—is their neighborhood: they’re clinging to mangrove roots, not a place you’d expect to find them. For four years, BU undergraduate students have snorkeled around an atoll off Belize to study mangroves, the “flooded forests” with roots breaking the water surface that are the membrane between islands and sea. It’s not research for the squeamish. “We often saw large rays, barracudas, upside-down jellyfish,” says Zachary Bengtsson (CAS’15). The long days in the water could chill the body, and the students endured numerous stings and bites from jellyfish and bugs that didn’t appreciate intruders. Despite the discomforts, Bengtsson loved all of it. The highlight came in 2013 when the students, acting on a suggestion of their professor, Boston University Marine Program (BUMP) director John Finnerty, looked for and found corals, better known for living in magnificent reefs, not in underwater forests. READ MORE

Local Volunteers Replace Exotic Plant Species With Red Mangroves
USA - Volunteers recently planted 10,000 red mangroves along North Spreader Canal in Lee County. Biologists are concerned the canal’s bank is eroding. That’s because the Florida Department of Environmental Protection has been removing nonnative plant species from the land. More than a hundred volunteers launched their vessels into the Cape Coral canal. The water was covered with kayaks—a medley of orange, red, yellow, blue and green. David Scott is a biologist. He's also on the board of the event’s organizer Keep Lee County Beautiful, a local nonprofit. Scott said biologists consider red mangroves to be Florida’s most valuable natural resource. "This creates a habitat for hundreds of different fish species in their juvenile stage, as well as a substrate for oysters to grow on. The red mangrove is a buffer for storm surge." said Scott. "So on any count, the red mangrove is an incredibly valuable tree." READ MORE

LAST WORD(S)

Hi all

Please find this opportunity for a postdoctoral fellowship with the
International Center at the University of Florida to qualified and
potentially interested graduate students and recent (since 2012) PhD
graduates. The fellowship is for research on ecology and environmental
science in the tropics/subtropics. There are no nationality restrictions
on applications.

Please cut and paste these news alerts/ action alerts on to your own lists and contacts. Help us spread the word and further generate letters of concern, as this can make a big difference in helping to halt a wrongdoing or encourage correct action.

ACTION ALERTS WANTED: MAP News is looking for links to calls to actions/petitions and letter writing campaigns on mangrove issues, tropical coastal communities and other related topics. Not all submissions can be selected, but we look forward to hearing about your work and want to let our readers' voice be heard!
Email submissions to news@mangroveactionproject.org

Action Alerts:

Rigoberto Lima Choc was a 28-year old schoolteacher and indigenous activist. He was shot outside of a courthouse just one day after a court ordered the palm oil company to suspend operations due to a huge spill of palm oil waste. Sign the petition to protect activists

MAP’s e-Cards offer you a unique way to spread the word about MAP’s good works, while sharing beautiful photographs of the mangroves

Donate to MAP via Paypal
Giving could never be easier

It’s the action, not the fruit of the action, that's important. You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there'll be any fruit. But that doesn't mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result.

Note to Our Readers:We strive to keep active links in our newsletter. However, due to circumstances beyond our control, occasionally links to stories may become broken. If you find a link to a story is not functioning, please cut and paste the headline into your browser search bar. In most cases you should be able to locate the original story.

Many letters have been written on the subject of protection of the
Sinharaja Rainforest and its importance, however despite numerous
petitions, complaints and existing policies regarding the protection of
the forest, little or no action seems to have been taken to stop the
ongoing destruction of this precious rainforest.

As a resident living close by, I am witnessing on a daily basis the
ongoing destruction. I would insist on immediate action regarding the
following points:

Logging

Despite the forest looking full from the outside, in fact, within the
forest, there are huge areas where logging has taken place. This is
taking place on such a large scale that it is impossible that the forest
rangers and officials are unaware of this. The officials are simply
turning a blind eye to what is going on.

Border encroachment

The forest borders are constantly changing due to the tea plantations
encroaching on the forest boundaries with tea planting within the forest.
This is done in such a subtle way that it is is hard to notice. The tea
is planted within the forest boundaries and then when he tea plants have
matured and are seen to be part of an existing plantation, the trees are
then cut down. If checked it is possible to see that the existing forest
boundary today does not correspond to the official boundary
map.

Trapping

Illegal trapping of wild animals around and within the forest continues
to take place despite the widely publicised incident of 5 rare black
leopards being killed about 5 years ago. Extremely illegal wild bush meat
is blatantly being sold in Deniyaya shops and other shops bordering the
forest. These traps also create serious hazards to researchers and other
explorers. Why are the shops selling illegal meat not punished for
selling illegal meat and used to name the trappers who should be
prosecuted?

Gem Mining

The search for precious stone or gems is a serious problem. Often well
organised gangs financed by wealthy gem merchants are responsible for the
activity. Large marshy areas are dug up and the vegetation destroyed. The
open pits left after gemming are a danger to both man and wildlife.

Irresponsible behaviour of guides and Forest Rangers

Guides are constantly being accompanied by dogs on tours within the
forest. One day I witnessed 15 dogs within the forest!! As
representatives of the forest, these guides and rangers should know
better than to enter the forest with dogs that undoubtedly cause damage
to the wildlife. These guides and rangers also smoke within the forest
and leave cigarette butts and rubbish in the forest. If we cannot trust
our guides and rangers to act responsibly then we can hardly expect them
to take on the responsibility of reporting others who cause damage. They
are untrained and basically just accompany the tourists along the
trails.

Actions of villagers

Villagers continue to use motorbikes on forest trails despite having
access to a proper road. They also cut trees and gem mine at a level,
which is beyond home use. This cannot be allowed to continue.

Illegal tracks and entry to forest

Since the Deniyaya Rainforest Eco Lodge has been built, new unauthorised
forest trails have been created for the Lodges guests to gain
unauthorised entry to the forest. Once again the guides used to lead the
tourists along these trails are acting irresponsibly and should be
punished as well as the Lodge who organises these illegal treks into the
forest. Since this entry point is not official, it enables the Lodge to
take illegal entry fees from the tourists who are unaware that this is
not an official entry point. These fees of course which should go toward
the forest are entering the pockets of the hotel owners.

Where are the funds received from foreign aid, government and local
council funds and entry fees, going to? They are certainly not going to
fund training or programmes to educate the local guides, rangers or
villagers who are a big part of the problem.

It is a shame that the local community is not being used to help solve
the problem instead of causing damage. Without the cooperation of the
local community to monitor and report on illegal and /or irresponsible
actions, the forest will remain vulnerable. Another problem: to whom
should they or anyone else should, address complaints?

Despite officials knowing about the illegal activities that are taking
place, no one has ever been fined or prosecuted for any illegal activity
in the forest. It therefore makes no sense to complain to the existing
officials under the present circumstances.

Call to Action:

Please give us responsible officials to oversee the Sinharaja rain
forest.To protect our endemic
species of fauna and flora from exploitation, bar all people conducting
research in Sinharaja with the pretext of 舛onservation' who are actually
engaged in Bio-piracy. Those who enter Sinharaja should be closely
monitored and supervised by officials of Forestry department.

Do not allow the approval of permits by the State of Provincial
Governments to build hotels or any other structure including roads within
Sinharaja, near Sinharaja or its precincts.

The younger generation of Sri Lankan expats who have never seen or heard
of Sinharaja, and young locals and foreigners who may have just heard of
Sinharaja, who have signed the petition to safeguard Sinharaja show the
keen interest they take when it comes to worldly environmental issues and
their commitment to save the planet.

The sinharaja rainforests of Sri Lanka threatened!
Sinharaja is a World Heritage Site, you could thing it is protected by
Unesco. Still it is getting smaller every year and in 20 years many
animal species will get extinct if the cutting of trees for tea will
continue in this pace.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGiFdJrjdfc

Jorge Varela Márquez, Goldman Environmental Prize 1999, denounces
the new fishing law of his country, which, after year of resistance by fishing
communities, surrenders it's national sovereignty to transnational
cooperations...

"Worldwide, and with special intensity in the countries
of the South, the "Grabbing of Land and Oceans" takes place, that is,
the facilitated acquisition by the oligarchies and transnational corporations
of the biodiversity that inhabit the lands, seas, lakes, ponds, rivers,
wetlands of a country. This dispossession of resources violates human and
cultural rights of millions of people and is facilitated by the World Bank,
supported by many governments of the "First and Third World!" with
the cooperation of some international organizations once pro-environment and
now pro-business. This policy of plundering works against the food security of
millions of people.

To deprive countries
of their goods attractive terms are used such as the "right to private property,"
"transferable fishing quotas," "secure access,"
"Marine Protected Areas" etc. In Honduras the giving away of
resources process began in the early 90's along with efforts to pass a new Law
on Fisheries and Aquaculture (LPA). Over the years, Congress never went against
the opposition from artisanal fishermen who are currently disjointed and the
Non Gubernmental Organizations dedicated to implementing projects, which hurts
their advocacy work. At this juncture, President John O. Hernandez, who
controls Congress and the Supreme Court, succeeds in having a new LPA approved
on September 23, 2015. Despite the "cosmetic" changes it has
undergone over the years, this law robs Honduras of its aquatic and food.

Consistent with the
dictates generated by the "global grabbing of oceans," this LPA gives
"private property rights" and "transfers" to:
"licensed aquaculture operators," "boat licensees" and
those having "fishing quotas" who also acquire the power to put these
state assets for sale, rent, and mortgage with guaranteed credit from the
National Bank without the need for governmental approval! In such case, the
state is required only to "register the final acts" of the transactions.

The other requirement is "right of access" to territories and
biological resources including genetic resources. Consistent with this,
Congress eliminates the "exclusive zone for artisanal fishing" and
gives the right of access to vessels of 5 tons with high-tech self-navigation
systems that do not yet exist in Honduras.

It also authorizes
"access rights" to the shrimp trawl fleet and to other Honduran and
foreign industrial vessels that can fish in all of the "Exclusive Economic
Zone" including the coastal zone. Further, it grants access to aquatic and
genetic resources to foundations, laboratories and research centers (local and
foreign), which acquire rights for exploitation and management.

In short, the
new laws proceeds to surrender national sovereignty and thus of food
sovereignty through the privatization of fisheries and the elimination of
artisanal fishermen, with the marginalization that this entails of many coastal
communities that depend on aquatic resources.

Now, the only recourse is the right to challenge that law
because of its unconstitutionality and because it undermines human and cultural
rights. There is also the option to present this case of "resource
appropriation" in the upcoming World Conference on Climate Change or to
other international authorities."